Hanging topsail-yards



y v. v v

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioEi JAMES NUTE, 0F EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

HANGING ToPsAIL-YARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,399, dated May 22, 1860.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, J AMES NUTE, of East Boston, in the county of Suifolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Hanging the Lower or Standing Topsail-Yards of Ships and other Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descript-ion of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view of portions of a ships lower mast and top-mast, and the apparatus by which the yard is supported, also exhibiting the yard and the top in section. Fig. 2 is a plan of the saine. Fig. 3 is a front view of the same. Fig. t is a transverse vert-ical section of the head of the topmast, and the bands by which the yard is supported.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, is the lower mast and B, the top-mast.

C C', is the cap of the lower mast.

D, D, are the trestle-trees. E, is the lower, or, as it is sometimes called, the standing topsail yard, and F, is the strap applied to the head of the lower mast below the cap to assist in supporting the yard.

The cap C C, is made substantially of the usual form, but entirely of iron, and in two pieces, (best shown in Fig. 2), of which the front piece C, contains a hole of a size to admit the top-mast, and the back piece C, constitutes simply a half band with lugs to receive bolts a, a, which also pass through lugs on t-he front piece C, for the purpose of clamping the two parts securely upon the lower mast. The front piece C, has also formed upon it two lugs Z), o, to receive between them the hea-d of the pin c, on which turns the yoke d, of the truss which is attached to the yard by two bands e, e, encir! cling the yard. Instead,however, of the cap C C, being made entirely of iron it may be of wood and surrounded by a metal band put on in two pieces and clamped by bolts like a, a. The top -mast lits snugly but loosely into the cap, and is intended to be supported on the trestle-trees in the usual manner by a id, by whose removal it is permitted to be lowered.

The strap F, is of wrought iron, formed with shouldered screws f, f, on its extremities to pass through lugs on the two portions of a divided band G, G, which is notched into the head of the lower mast, as shown in Fig. 4. Nuts g, g, applied to the screws f, f, serve to secure both the band G, G, and the strap F, in a perfectly rigid manner to the head of the lower mast. The strap F, is so formed that it fits snugly around the front of the top-mast so as to provide for the lowering or striking of the topmast without diiiiculty, which provision is one of the advantages of my invention. On the front of the said strap F, are two horizontal lugs It, it, like the lugs b, b, on the cap, to receive the lower end of the obliquely arranged iron brace H, whose upper end is fitted between two lugs z, z', parallel with the length of the brace, on a band I, which encircles the yard at the middle of its length, the said brace being secured tothe said band I, by a bolt 7c, passing through the brace and the lugs z', z', obliquely to the mast. The lugs b, and h, z, have holes in them to receive a bolt J, which Secures the head of the pin c, and the lower end of the oblique brace H, to the cap C C', and to the strap F, and so secures the yard to the lower mast, by which it is entirely supported.

The yard E, is supported in part by the cap C C, but a very largeproportion of its weight is transmitted by the oblique brace H, to the strap F, and hence while the cap is in a great measure relieved of its weight its whole weight is borne by the lower mast, thus relieving the top-mast. The strain produced on the yard in sailing is transmitted by the pin J, partly to the cap, and partly to the strap F, and hence all to the lower mast. In bracing the yard, it swings upon the pin J ,but it is permitted, by the arrangement of the faces of the joint z, i between the oblique brace and the yard, a separate movement upon the pin 7c, for raising either end, or, as it is termed, cockbilling, when in port.

do not claim the use of an oblique brace and described so that in case the top mast in supporting a standing top-sail yard when is carried away the yard Will still remain' not applied as herein described. But supported all as setiforth.

What I claim as my invention, and desire JAMES NUTE. 5 to secure by Letters Patent, is- Witnesses: "1

Supporting the yard E, independently of JOHN H. SHATTUGK,y the top mast, substantially as herein shown D. D. KELLY. 

